Ethiopian mangoes, the resourceful raw material for the mango seed kernel oil production

Abstract

Oil extracted from the mango seed kernel, one of the byproducts of juice processing industry, have application in the cosmetics industry, due to its antioxidant, skin whitening and anti-wrinkle properties. The main aim of this research is to determine the optimum operating condition for the extraction of oil from the mango seed kernel. A general factorial design was applied to investigate the effect of process variables on the oil yield. The optimum operating conditions for the extraction were a particle size range of 0.25-0.5 mm and extraction time of 6 h. At these conditions, the maximum oil yield with hexane as solvent was 84.81% and the minimum yield was 57.41%. The maximum and minimum yield for the same operating conditions, when petroleum ether was used as solvent was found 83.33% and 61.48%, respectively, while ethanol as solvent results a maximum yield of 57.04% and minimum yield of 23.70%. The physicochemical properties of the mango oil were determined and the results guarantee the use of mango kernel oil for cosmetic application.

Keywords: Extraction, Hexane, Mango seed kernel, Oil, Petroleum Ether, Yield